Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

Many startup businesses – tech or otherwise – fail. Trying outrageous new things or even trying mundane things but in new ways but with extreme quality & innovation is what fuels the tech startup industry. But today I want to give you advice on how to decrease your odds of failure in a startup. Market Size.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2015

By definition, every startup is predictably unpredictable, since new solutions have no proven track record, startups are usually building a new market, and the world around them is changing faster than ever. The market changes faster than your startup. The money runs out before revenues start.

Startup 105

Startup Entrepreneur Marketing Satisfaction 105

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 2, 2010

As a tech startup grows it needs to develop more process & management if it is to scale. Some objections are real and they end up becoming changes to your product, your service plan or your pricing / bundling. More experienced sales leaders seldom compete on price. It is tacit knowledge.

Sales 289

Sales Startup Training Pricing 289

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2012

I realized a while back that creating a new company for the first time is a lot like whipping up a great dinner entree for the first time – you need a recipe, even though it may look simple. Yet you may not be so sure where to start, and how to put it all together. then you can start writing a recipe. Don’t stand still.

Startup 96

Startup Writing Metrics Marketing 96

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2016

I was speaking recently to the team at NuOrder , an LA-based company we’re an investor in about “realism in startups” — an impromptu talk I have given to any of our portfolio companies who ask. I answered in the same way I always do so I thought I’d just write it publicly. “I I fall in love.” Mission driven, commercially focused.

Invest 254

Invest Writing Pricing Metrics 254

SoCal CTO

MARCH 11, 2013

Yesterday, I was talking to a startup founder about their MVP and they said something that finally got me to write this post: "I have a few investors interested but they want to see a product." If you do build the MVP and show it to them, they will ask you about your metrics. They really want metrics, not a product.

Metrics 264

Metrics Venture Capital News Product 264

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2016

There is much talk these days that startup valuations have decreased and may continue to do so and that the amount of time it takes to fund raise may take longer. months for fund raising start to finish and make sure you have at least 6 month’s of cash if it takes longer.

Startup 150

Startup Capital Funding Invest 150

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 2, 2020

in Physics who talks passionately about starting a business producing nuclear powered batteries. His challenge is to focus on one market, with a specific design, cost, and price. Create a written plan, with target milestones and metrics. For example, I have a friend with a Ph.D. A full plan may be no more than 20 pages.

Ideas 126

Ideas Writing Examples Outsource 126

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 7, 2011

I love cars--I grew up in SoCal, and my father was really into cars, and didn't have sons. The other thing that struck me, is because it is only men, they tend to write with lots of testosterone. The other thing that struck me, is because it is only men, they tend to write with lots of testosterone. How did you manage that?

Truecar 204

Truecar Writing Edmunds Sites 204

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2013

I work with a lot of startups. I start to notice when bad behavior creeps into the system as a whole. The minute you try to monetize now they have metrics with which to beat you up and say you’re business has limitations.” Should I write off my $2.5 Nobody seems to want to make money any more.

Venture Capital 412

Venture Capital Startup Funding Snapchat 412

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 19, 2012

I asked some of the same questions I ask in my Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions and then I get to a very common conversation: Me : Do you have specs? You likely are writing your first one of these. Make sure you look at 32 Questions Developers Should Ask a Startup Founder to spark possible additional features.

Develop 354

Develop Development Technical Review CTO Coach 354

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 16, 2018

I have been watching ProductPlan for several years, as the founders are both friends and pillars of the Santa Barbara Startup Community. Greathouse: We’ve known each other for a long time but let’s start with the basics for my readers. How did you and your co-founder, Greg Goodman, get started? Had you worked together before?

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 7, 2011

I realized a while back that creating a new company for the first time is a lot like whipping up a great dinner entree for the first time – you need a recipe, even though it may look simple. Yet you may not be so sure where to start, and how to put it all together. then you can start writing a recipe. Don’t stand still.

Entrepreneur 91

Entrepreneur Startup Writing Metrics 91

socalTECH

MARCH 6, 2017

We caught up with co-founder Clark Landry to chat about his new startup, which he co-founded with Michael Ritter. We'd get together every two or three months to grab coffee or lunch, and talk about what we're up to. A lot of what we've been looking at are the metrics. What's the idea behind Maple Media?

Media 153

Media Mobile Startup Acquisition 153

socalTECH

JUNE 13, 2011

Our marketplace is organized like a used item marketplace, like Amazon or eBay, or Craiglist, in that a seller lists an item, picks a cause, and sets a price. Exatly a year ago was the very beginning of KarmaGoat, where I was trying to come up with something that would work as a marketplace donating items. Where did the idea come from?

UCLA 256

UCLA Startup Ideas Help 256

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

My friend Ethan Anderson put it best to me after the panel, “You probably shouldn’t have been up there. I wrote about it here (mostly starting at point 7) and Chris Dixon wrote a great post about it here. So in the past we needed VC to really get a startup going. I said almost nothing in the 30 minutes.

Venture Capital 308

Venture Capital Training Startup Entrepreneur 308

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

Based on my experience and data from the field, over seventy-five percent of new startups fail, even with venture backing. Writing down key parameters will force you solidify the specifics, and mentally commit to them. Any startup with no patents, trade secrets, or other secret sauce is very high risk today.

Ideas 94

Ideas Slides Technical Review Patents 94

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 20, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Tuesday, February 20, 2007 Innovation and Geography I ran across a post in Read/Write Web - Does Location Matter in Web Innovation? Ive personally been involved in the start-up world in Los Angeles for about 15 years, and have had the opportunity to work on many early-stage companies (e.g.,

CTO Coach 150

CTO Coach Southern California CTO Hire Social Media 150

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

And as Rob points out – if you email members with short updates more frequently they are more up to speed when you do need them to weigh in. He did it yesterday, “Mark, I’m going to write a blog post following on from your VC’s aren’t dumb. He is very pleasant when he calls and writes. Rob does it.

Tips 365

Tips Email Venture Capital CTO Coach 365

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 9, 2012

You may have already found several articles, web pages, or books about writing the perfect executive summary. They all offer a list of requirements that might take 50 pages to address, but of course they ask you to write concisely. Think of it as a selling effort, not an attempt to fully describe your startup. Business model.

Summary 97

Summary Writing Competition Sample 97

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2015

They suffered in trying to live up to public perceptions and the demands to continue their successes. The road is littered with startups that shined bright before burning out. Mark Suster (@msuster) July 19, 2015. And the immediate reaction was obvious – that failure can be pretty lonely, too. Of course that’s true.

Press 150

Press Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 150

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 3, 2011

You may have already found several articles, web pages, or books about writing the perfect executive summary. They all offer a list of requirements that might take 50 pages to address, but of course they ask you to write concisely. Think of it as a selling effort, not an attempt to fully describe your startup. Business model.

Summary 90

Summary Writing Competition Sample 90

SoCal CTO

MARCH 22, 2007

Ive not found that much use for LinkedIn to help my blogging, but Im starting to think about this. I am in the middle of writing up some of my thoughts on this and will post about it and let you know. Im very happy with the time Ive spent building up my LinkedIn network. I definitely check people out using LinkedIn.

Blogging 150

Blogging CTO Coach CTO Hire Southern California 150

Tech.Co

APRIL 11, 2018

The impact can be seen in the skills gap — the San Francisco Bay Area has the largest skills gap among the locations covered by LinkedIn’s report, meaning that supply isn’t keeping up with demand. After, it’s a balancing act for many in the industry, who rely on the same location that’s pricing them out.

Report 70

Report .Net Template Writing 70

Tech Zulu Event

JANUARY 30, 2012

Crowd Seats gets you in the crowd for your favorite games with ticket prices 50-90% off face value! All it takes is an email address to start receiving our exclusive deals for sports tickets to your favorite teams in your city. We write and create our own content for the game. Price: $25 (Early Bird). Event Details.

CalTech 91

CalTech Company Companies Idealab 91

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 11, 2010

You may have already found several articles, web pages, or books about writing the perfect executive summary. They all offer a list of requirements that might take 50 pages to address, but of course they ask you to write concisely. Think of it as a selling effort, not an attempt to fully describe your startup. Business model.

Summary 55

Summary Writing Competition Metrics 55

SoCal Delicious

SEPTEMBER 22, 2008

Heres 5 steps to start exploring: View the "Best Of" list with 50+ essays on viral marketing, gaming, and ads » Get introduced: About this blog, why entrepreneurs and marketers recommend it » Receive updates by email or RSS feed or Twitter. Write me an e-mail and let me know what youre up to! Step 1: Prototypes.

Startup 29

Startup IP Email Report 29

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 25, 2014

Tons of great conversations about new startups, hardware, and the entrepreneurs building them. To cap off our 6th year at SXSW and follow up on last year’s amazingly successful Trend Lounge , we knew this year had to be bigger, better, more engaging, and of course, even more fun. Hustle hard, ride in comfort.

Entertainment 99

Entertainment Google Entrepreneur Course 99